Brock Family History

Harrison family · 6 generations back

Robert Harrison

1785 – 1861
✓ Validated against records · 2026-07-04

Robert Harrison was baptised at Bubwith on the 13th of March 1785, third of the four children of George Harrison and Hannah Otley of Breighton. At twenty-one, on the 20th of July 1806, he married Ann Woodall at Howden Minster — she "of this parish", a Woodall standing witness, bride and groom both making their marks.

Then began a working life that can be followed, abode by abode, down the baptism register: a servant at New Village in 1806; a labourer in North Cave parish from 1808, at the hamlet with the bleak name of Bedlam by 1815; in Blacktoft parish by 1823; at the Eight and Forty — the houses on Wallingfen named for the forty-eight townships that once shared the great common — by 1830; at Gilberdyke by 1841. Twelve children were born along that road, and five of them died small: Nancy at four months; John at three days; Hannah and William within ten weeks of each other in the early months of 1818; a second William at nine months the year after. The entries are each a line long. Mum read them all.

Near the road's end the family tried the new religion: the two youngest boys, Matthew and Henry, were baptised at the Wesleyan chapel at Newport — Matthew in December 1832, "son of Robert and Ann" — and then, in June 1840, both were baptised again at Eastrington church: a family squaring the chapel with the parish, as many did.

Ann died in August 1849, aged sixty-two, at the Eight and Forty — and was carried back to North Cave for burial, where the five children lay. Robert stayed on: a widowed farm labourer there at the 1851 census, his unmarried son John still with him in 1861. He was buried at North Cave that October, the register calling him seventy-nine — the font says seventy-six. His youngest, Matthew, remained on Wallingfen, census after census, into the new century: the last of the family on the old common ground.

Composed from validated records · 2026-07-04
Baptism
March 13th 1785, Breighton, Bubwith
Marriage
July 20th,1806 Howden to Ann Woodall
Burial
October 8th 1861, North Cave, aged 79 years
Parents
George Harrison and Hannah Otley
Siblings
George Harrison baptised October 15th 1779, Bubwith Sarah Harrison baptised January 13th 1782, Bubwith Robert Harrison baptised March 13th 1785, Bubwith Elizabeth Harrison baptised September 4th 1791, Bubwith
Children
Nancy Harrison born August 24th, 1806, died January 13th 1807 Robert Harrison baptised July 15th 1808, North Cave George Harrison baptised June 18th 1810, North Cave William Harrison baptised May 25th, 1812, North Cave died March 5th 1818 John Harrison baptised May 14th, died May 17th 1814, North Cave Hannah Harrison baptised March 17th 1815, North Cave, died January 13th 1818 aged 3 Sally Harrison baptised April 23rd 1817, North Cave William Harrison baptised March 7th 1819, North Cave, died December 21st 1819 John Harrison baptised March 16th 1823, North Cave Woodall Harrison baptised October 30th, 1830, Blacktoft Matthew Harrison* baptised December 22nd 1832, Wesleyan Newport by Howden Henry Harrison* baptised February 8th 1835, Wesleyan Newport by Howden Matthew and Henry were later baptised at Eastrington Parish Church on June 7th 1840
1806
Marries Ann Woodall in Howden Minster Robert Harrison of the parish of Bubwith and Ann Woodall of this parish were married after banns on the twentieth day of July, 1806 in the presence of R. Woodall and Thomas Harrison Both Robert and Ann made their marks (x)
1806
Servant living in New Village (baptism record)
1807
Death of daughter Nancy aged 4 months
1808-1814
Labourer living in the parish of North Cave (baptism record)
1814
Death of son John aged 3 days
1815-1819
Labourer living in Bedlam, North Cave (baptism record)
1818
Death of son William aged 5 years 9 months in March and daughter Hannah in January aged 3 years 10 months
1819
Death of son William aged 9 months
1823
Labourer living in the parish of Blacktoft (baptism record)
1830
Labourer living in the parish of Eight and Forty, Blacktoft
1841c
Living in Gilberdike in the parish of Eastrington Robert Harrison, aged 60, born 1781, Yorkshire Ann Harrison aged 50, born 1791, Yorkshire Matthew Harrison aged 8, born1833, Yorkshire Henry Harrison aged 6, born 1835, Yorkshire Occupation: Agricultural Labourer
1849
Death of Ann Harrison aged 62 on the 13th of August. Ann was buried in North Cave though she was living in Eight and Forty
1851c
Living in the parish of Blacktoft Robert Harrison, Head, Widower, aged 68, born1783, Brighton (sic) Address: Eight and Forty Occupation: Farm Labourer
1861c
Living in the parish of Blacktoft Robert Harrison, Head, Widower, born 1783, Breighton John Harrison, Son, Unmarried, aged 38, born 1823, Scalby, Ag. Labourer
1861
Death of Robert on the 8th of October, aged 79. At the time of his death he was living at Eight and Forty in the parish of Blacktoft and was buried in North Cave
In your grandmother’s words · from her notebook

Family

Parents

GHFatherGeorge Harrison1756–1805

The children of George & Hannah Otley

· · Robert Harrison b. 1785this page ·

Marriage

AWSpouseAnn Woodallb. 1786

Children

WHChild · the line continuesWoodall Harrisonmain line1830–1914

Life

Confirmed — anchored to a recordEstimated — inferred
1785

Baptised

13 March 1785 at Breighton

Robt. Son of Geo: Harrison of Brighton — [March] 13 [1785].— Baptism — Bubwith (Bishop's Transcript, 1785)
The record image is with the family — family sign-in
Read at the image record Evidence
Confirmed against the original record, read at the image:
  • Baptism — Bubwith (Bishop's Transcript, 1785) — Bubwith Bishop's Transcript (Borthwick Institute; findmypast image GBPRS/YORKSHIRE/007588605/00262), read 4 July 2026. One correction of the index by its own image: findmypast's transcript dates him 13 February, but the leaf runs its entries through "March 13" two lines above him — his "13" belongs to the March block. Mum's 13 March was exact. read at the image
1806

In 1806

1806

Servant living in New Village (baptism record)— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1806

Married Ann Woodall

20 July 1806

July 20 — Robert Harrison and Ann Woodall — Banns. [1806]— Marriage — Howden Minster (Bishop's Transcript, 1806)
July 20 — Robert Harrison and Ann Woodall — Banns. [1806]— Marriage — Howden Minster (Bishop's Transcript, 1806)
The record image is with the family — family sign-in
Read at the image record Evidence
Confirmed against the original record, read at the image:
  • Marriage — Howden Minster (Bishop's Transcript, 1806) — Howden Bishop's Transcript year-list (Borthwick Institute; findmypast image GBPRS/YORKSHIRE/007588007/00170), read 4 July 2026. The fuller parish-register entry is Mum's transcription: "Robert Harrison of the parish of Bubwith and Ann Woodall of this parish… in the presence of R. Woodall and Thomas Harrison", both making their marks. read at the image
  • Marriage — Howden Minster (Bishop's Transcript, 1806) — Howden Bishop's Transcript year-list (Borthwick Institute; findmypast image GBPRS/YORKSHIRE/007588007/00170), read 4 July 2026. The fuller parish-register entry is Mum's transcription: witnesses R. Woodall — the bride's kin — and Thomas Harrison; both bride and groom made their marks. read at the image
1807

In 1807

1807

Death of daughter Nancy aged 4 months— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1808

In 1808

1808

Labourer living in the parish of North Cave (baptism record)— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1814

In 1814

1814

Death of son John aged 3 days— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1815

In 1815

1815

Labourer living in Bedlam, North Cave (baptism record)— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1818

In 1818

1818

Death of son William aged 5 years 9 months in March and daughter Hannah in January aged 3 years 10 months— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1819

In 1819

1819

Death of son William aged 9 months— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1823

In 1823

1823

Labourer living in the parish of Blacktoft (baptism record)— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1830

In 1830

1830

Labourer living in the parish of Eight and Forty, Blacktoft— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1830

Wallingfen and the Eight and Forty — the end of a common

Two of this family's records stand on the same ground: Robert Harrison was living at the Eight and Forty by 1830, and his son Woodall was born there that year — a small cluster of houses on Wallingfen that kept, in its name, the memory of how this land had worked for centuries. Wallingfen was a great low common, some five thousand acres of fen and rough pasture in the flat country between the Ouse and the moor edge, and it belonged, in use if not in title, to the people of forty-eight surrounding townships and hamlets, who held rights of common upon it — grazing, fuel, fowling. Its affairs were governed by the commoners themselves, and the house where the Fen's governors met was the Eight and Forty House: the name the settlement inherited. In the 1770s an Act of Parliament ended it. The common was drained, surveyed, hedged and dealt out in allotments — the largest to the largest owners — and the families who had lived partly by common right became wage labourers on other men's fields. The Harrisons' own road makes the point without a pamphlet: Robert, born a few years after the award, walked the levels from hiring to hiring — New Village, Bedlam, Blacktoft, the Eight and Forty itself — and his son, christened with the common's houses around him, was boarded out to earn his keep at eleven. On the Brock side of this family the Isle of Axholme fought its drainers for a century; here on Wallingfen the change came by Act and award, quieter and just as total. What remained was a name on the map — and for a generation, the Harrisons lived in it.

Historical context Evidence
Background composed for this site from published history. It frames the family’s world; it is not one of Mum’s records.
1832

The chapel at Newport — two sons baptised Wesleyan

1832 at Newport, by Howden

Matthew Harrison — baptised 16 December 1832, Newport by Howden — parents Robert and Ann Harrison. [Wesleyan]— The Wesleyan chapel, Newport — Matthew's baptism (1832)
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research, cited — not yet re-verified at the image:
  • The Wesleyan chapel, Newport — Matthew's baptism (1832) — Indexed from the Newport Wesleyan register (TNA RG 4, via FamilySearch's England Births & Christenings; the register image is still to be read): Matthew Harrison, baptised 16 December 1832, Newport by Howden, parents Robert and Ann. Mum's "22 December" is likely the register's own born/baptised pair — the image will show both dates. from Mum’s research
1841

Census · 1841

1841

Living in Gilberdike in the parish of Eastrington Robert Harrison, aged 60, born 1781, Yorkshire Ann Harrison aged 50, born 1791, Yorkshire Matthew Harrison aged 8, born1833, Yorkshire Henry Harrison aged 6, born 1835, Yorkshire Occupation: Agricultural Labourer— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1849

In 1849

1849

Death of Ann Harrison aged 62 on the 13th of August. Ann was buried in North Cave though she was living in Eight and Forty— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1851

Census · 1851

1851

Living in the parish of Blacktoft Robert Harrison, Head, Widower, aged 68, born1783, Brighton (sic) Address: Eight and Forty Occupation: Farm Labourer— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1861

Census · 1861

1861

Living in the parish of Blacktoft Robert Harrison, Head, Widower, born 1783, Breighton John Harrison, Son, Unmarried, aged 38, born 1823, Scalby, Ag. Labourer— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1861

In 1861

1861

Death of Robert on the 8th of October, aged 79. At the time of his death he was living at Eight and Forty in the parish of Blacktoft and was buried in North Cave— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1861

Buried at North Cave — from the Eight and Forty

8 October 1861 at North Cave

Robert Harrison — death registered 1861, Howden district, Yorkshire.— Death registration (Q4 1861)
Confirmed in index record Evidence
Found in an index or transcript — the original page not yet read:
  • Death registration (Q4 1861) — England & Wales civil death index: Robert Harrison, Howden district, 1861 — the quarter of his 8 October burial at North Cave. The burial register itself is Mum's reading; the original is on the Treasure House list. index entry — original not yet seen

Our research

The North Cave registers, and the chapel at Newport

Open research · Treasure House, Beverley

  • The burials. Robert's (8 October 1861), Ann's (August 1849), and the five children's (1807–1819) are all North Cave's — a run of entries Mum read that is not online. To do: North Cave registers at the Treasure House — read the grief-run in the original, and the abode column with it (Bedlam, the Eight and Forty).
  • The chapel register. Matthew's Wesleyan baptism is indexed (16 December 1832 — Mum's 22nd is likely the register's born/baptised pair); Henry's (1835) and the double Eastrington re-baptisms of June 1840 are still to be read. To do: the Newport Wesleyan register (TNA RG 4) in findmypast's Non-Conformist images.
  • The censuses. 1841 Gilberdyke, 1851 and 1861 Eight and Forty — Mum transcribed all three; the images are index-shy on findmypast (search via FamilySearch first).